At around 3pm local time, a truck smashed into the Ahlens department store on Stockholm's busiest Drottninggatan street. Live television footage showed smoke coming out of the department store, several people were rushed away in ambulances.

Part of central Stockholm was cordoned off. The city's subway system was shut down and the main railway station was evacuated.

The truck used in the attack is owned by the Swedish brewery company Spendrups.

"The truck was stolen while goods were being delivered to a restaurant. Its driver was unloading the goods when someone got into the truck," the company's spokesman said, according to the Aftonbladet newspaper. He added that the driver was safe.